On September 6, Shenyang, capital of Liaoning Province, welcomed 40 Japanese university students, who participated in the “One Class, One Tree” event at Shenyang Normal University to experience traditional Chinese culture, exchange life insights, and further establish friendships with Chinese counterparts.
To promote exchanges between sister cities of China and Japan, and commemorate the 40th anniversary of friendship between Liaoning Province and Toyama Prefecture, the Liaoning Provincial People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries invited the curator of the Tateyama Museum of Toyama, who led a delegation of 40 university students from Toyama, to visit Liaoning and carry out friendly exchanges from September 4 to 10.
The Japanese students experienced cloisonné colored sand painting, under the guidance of professional teachers. They were taught to use cloison to inlay the accessories of Beijing Opera headgear, and color them with pigments. After polishing and standing, the glistening sand paintings were smoothly completed. The students then put on Beijing Opera costumes, and learned the movements and gestures of the opera, such as playing water sleeves, with masters. They also took pictures excitedly, and flocked to a cultural creative product display area to stamp Beijing Opera mask creative seals on postcards. These seals are rich in forms and patterns, requiring stamping five times in sequence to display a lifelike Beijing Opera mask, which particularly amazed the students.
In addition, the “Liaoning-Toyama Friendship Forest” was unveiled at Shenyang Normal University. The Chinese and Japanese guests, and students jointly earthed up and watered ten crabapple trees, which symbolize pure friendship, and tied red ribbons on them, fostering friendly local exchanges between China and Japan.
During the visit, the Japanese students relished the scenery of Dalian Oriental Venice Water City, toured Shenyang’s famous historical and cultural sites, and visited Japanese enterprises in Liaoning and noted heavy industrial enterprises of Liaoning. They made traditional Chinese delicacies firsthand, such as mooncakes and Chinese dumplings, and visited cultural creative parks in Liaoning, to savor the intriguing fusion of traditional industrial factories and modern cultural creative spaces. Besides, they also exchanged Chinese learning reflections and shared life experiences with teachers and students from Shenyang’s universities, enhancing understanding and establishing friendships through mutual interactions.
